BAT
by Danthefan28
Summary: A hero emerges.


p class="p1"span class="s1"strongBAT/strong/span/p  
p class="p2" /p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"When the city you have lived in your whole life has to start handing out survival pamphlets and calls itself "Fear City", you know that something is wrong. Something is very class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"The city the young and freckled face Robyn McConnell was born and raised was in far from the one the older, yet still freckled face Robyn McConnell lived and was now highly likely to die in, a city which had went from a shiny beacon, the kind that someone like Frank Sinatra would sing ballads and unofficial anthems about, to deteriorating, graffiti covered, and arson ridden haven of almost every sort of every crime one could think class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"A real puritans nightmare, if not for the hustlers and the pimps and the hookers by every street corner, then for the street gangs, the muggers, the drug dealers and users, the killers here and there, and most of all the corruption, both in the shadows and in plain sight, that sickness you could just feel in the air, like the whole place was a toxic waste dump, or radioactive, and even those two were far from being entirely out of the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"Now any sane and rational person would just want to pack up, leave and never even think of looking back, haul ass like the goddamned city was Sodom and class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"But as far as Robyn could see, there was not a single sane and rational person class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"Not even the old, rounded black woman with long curly hair she saw every day when she looked in the mirror, an old woman who still wanted to believe that this city could be saved, or was even still worth saving one way or the other. However an optimist she most certainly was not, at least upon the surface, and a pessimist she most definitely was, though somehow finding herself a way to be an upbeat pessimist./span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"She thankfully didn't have to travel too far to get to work, after all, for her work was literally down the stairs, in the mom and pop store she owned. The regulars came by that day, such as Detective Jim, whom she made smalltalk with asking him "How's the wife?" to which he said "Well, two words: Morning and sickness" Robyn quipping "Technically thats three. Congratulations by the way" before the television over her shoulder placed a damper on her comments, and brought the two back to reality. The odd, colourful yet horrifying reality./span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"One where a clown could literally shoot a late night host on the face on live TV and be seen by the growingly angry, violent and disenfranchised masses as a revolutionary of sorts, wearing his face like he was a hero. And like all 'Heroes' seemed to've been nowadays, he had chosen to've lit the world on fire, or at the very least she and him shared./span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"You could've said that he was the one who started it, that he was the one who did it, starting it the very moment he had pulled the trigger on those three yuppies on the train, that those three mens dead bodies lit the fuse, ignited the anger that built up and up beneath the city. "So hows work nowadays?" Robyn asked him "Hell" Jim said to her plainly as he looked through his wallet for cash to pay for the morning sickness medication, his eyes flickering up and down from behind his glasses, focusing to either the wallet and the television, which discussed a recent mugging by people associating themselves with the infamous clown prince of the wannabe revolutionaries "Why am I not surprised" Robyn said, Jim telling her that "More costumed crazies are starting to show up, some even seem to idolise him"/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""The hell do they see in him?" Robyn asked Jim "Honestly? I don't know…" looking at his watch he says "I should get going, nice talking to you Robyn" Detective Jim Gordon said before leaving the store. That night, as Robyn was closing up shop, the bell at the door tolls. Three young men enter the store, with at least one of them appearing to have a gun, this one walks up to the counter and raises it at her. This wasn't the first class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"If you owned any business in this god forsaken city, getting robbed was as common as getting stuck in traffic, hence why Robyn had no interest in the robbers, and slowly and calmly reached for the shotgun she kept under neath the counter. As the young robbers were making their demands to her, she would suddenly hear the bell toll once class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"The man was clad in all black everything. Black jack boots, black studded gloves, black hockey mask, black jumpsuit, over which, it looked like he wore a heavy leather jacket, to Robyn he was a real dead ringer for Frankenstein from Death Race class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"One of the muggers, the one closest to the door turned to face the man, asking aloudspan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""What the fuck is this?" only for him to be met by a gloved, studded right fist into his face, a sickening crack following the punch as the mugger was sent tumbling back down to the ground, clutching his bloodied nose in pain, cursing muffled curses as he did class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""Holy fuck" Robyn said aloud to herself, just as the figure made his way towards the other two muggers, the one with the gun saying "Oh shit!" before pointing his pistol at him, firing right at him twice, the first hitting him in the shoulder whilst the second would strike him right on the mouth of his mask, a cracking being heard as this had happened, the figure arching downward with their arms raised to protect their face, before lunging towards the gunman tightly grabbing his wrist before tackling him to the ground, managing to wrestle the gun out of his hand, only for the remaining attack to stab at him class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"Robyn wasn't sure if the knife was managing to penetrate through that leather jacket of his, but the figure was clearly in pain, and would quickly lift himself up, the back of his armoured head smacking the front of the switchblade wielding mugger, who violently tumbled back, tripping over the first mugger attacked by this man in black./span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"The man in black would then grab the gun from off the ground, pointing it at the man he had head-butted then to immediately back to the man he snatched the pistol from as he frantically picked himself up, only for the man in black to press barrel of the gun against his head, right between the eyes. Now Robyn and any other person living or dying in this city could've seen what was coming next, they knew he would've pulled the trigger right then and there… Only he didn't. Robyn wasn't sure if he froze up or not, or if he had no true intention of pulling that trigger, or if he had intended to then he had, and or at the last second, chosen against it. No matter the reason, he never pulled the trigger in the fight, instead like a gunslinger he spun the pistol in his hand, the barrel now held tightly in his hand before he used it as a brass knuckle, swinging his arm back at the switchblade attacker, backhanding him, sending him smacking into an aisle shelf before he turned back the former gunman, knocking him out with a sickening crack coming from the punch./span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"An eerie silence fell over the store, Robyn looking over into the aisle, unsure whether the fight was over or not, and about to lower the shotgun before the switchblade attacker frantically got back out, yelling angrily before the man in black, reached over the counter, grabbing Robyn's shotgun before swinging the gun like an improvised bat, beating his attacker over and over before he fell back to the ground, bloodied and beaten, this time finally winded for good, though thankfully still class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"The man in black, still tightly clutching the gun in his grasp like it were a baseball bat breathed heavily before Robyn asked him "You alright?"/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""Could be better…" the man answered to her in a rough, grizzled voice, almost like he was doing some kind of a Clint Eastwood impressionspan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""You know there are easier ways to die out there" she told him "I'm not planing on dying" he told her in that grizzled voice of his, adding "Not yet" before Robyn asked himspan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""Is that actually how you talk?" managing to get a better look at this man in black, noticing he was a white man, though she couldn't tell how old he was, though she noticed his square jaw, this was because his mask took some damage from the fight, in particular that bullet to the face, which if his mask hadn't caught it, would've surely gone right through his mouth, which she managed to see as the mouth region of his mask had cracked offspan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""You know if it weren't for that mask of yours, you would've literally eaten lead" Robyn quipped, the figure in black nearly gave a dry laugh at this, only he restrained himself, not a speck of amusement appearing on what little of his face she was able to see./span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""Why didn't you kill 'em?" Robyn asked, to which he answered "Because I'm not another killer ma'am… This city has far too many" he said this before he slowly lumbered towards the door, stepping over the attackers as he did so "What do I tell the cops?" she asked him "That I kicked their asses like an old black lady Bruce Lee?" the man in black answeredspan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""Tell 'em exactly what you saw… Tell them it was me… Sorry for the mess" the man added as he made his way towards the door "Trust me, I've seen way way worse" Robyn admitted before, as he was halfway out the door she asked him "You've got a name mister?"./span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"The man pauses, frozen like a statue, and is silent "…Not yet" the man answered/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""Have a safe evening" he adds before leaving the building. It was then that she notices the trail of blood starting from where he once stood, choosing to ignore the part of her saying that she should just close up shop and go get some rest… Only she didn't, instead of this, Robyn chose to silently and cautiously followed this trail of blood further down the darkened alleyway towards the entrance to the subway, where she was just barely able to see his silhouetted figure vanishing down the sterile lit class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"He almost lumbers as he made his way, trudging his boot cladded feat through the gravel and the darkness of that, dimly lit, long abandoned class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"It was only within that darkness he chose to show his pain, his breathing growing heavier and heavier, almost exiting his lips as a dizzied groan of that far from numbing class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"He was to be stronger than that pain. Stronger than the pain which boiled him alive from the inside, spilling and gushing its way from his pierced side, mixed with the grief which stung his inside his eyes, his vision growing ever fuzzy and his head growing heavy, his lips nearly quivering as he fought through the pain. Clawed through the pain in a nearly fruitless effort, an effort he managed to win by an unexpected factor, one which he hadn't gave much thought to, the city he himself had sworn to protect, the people of that city…span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"More accurately a lone woman, there to lend a hand "Are you outta your goddamn mind?" as well as constructive criticism as he looked at it. Robyn told him "You could get hit by a train!" adding that "We need to get your ass to a hospital" the man in black saying exhaustedly/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""I know somewhere… Its further up the tunnel" Robyn obliges, helping him "Thank you…"span class="Apple-converted-space" /spanhe managed to say, though to him it was something he felt he couldn't've said enough ofspan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""Don't mention it" Robyn said to him, adding "Call it getting even" Robyn quippedspan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""You saved me and my store, I guess it makes sense that I save you and your crazy ass"/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""How did you find me?" he asked Robyn, who answered "First I followed that trail of blood you left… Then after I just had to follow the crazy fella dressed in black—" an intense light shined at the two "Oh shit!" Robyn said, thinking it was an approaching train, falling back to the ground and nearly dragging the man in black down with class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""Don't worry" he said to her "He's with me" before a silhouette in the light asked with a thick, cockney accent "What the hell?" emerging from the light, revealing himself to be a large man in a suit, who the man in black would tell to help Robyn in bringing him up to the platform of the abandoned subway, where she would see what appeared to've been a small base, with one side of the platform home to large cumbersome machines that lined the walls, as well as a large map of the city, almost like a hastily made army base, on the other side of the platform was a medical table, one which the cockney man would sit the man in black atop of, before assisting in his injuries. Cautiously opening the leather jacket, the cockney man slowly lifted his now bloodstained to get a look at the stab wound/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""You'll survive, we just need to stitch you up" the man said before being identified as Alfred by the man in black "One thing…" Alfred said before signalling towards Robyn asking him "What about her?" to which she said "Don't worry" adding jokingly "We ain't all criminals"/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""She's free to leave" the man in black said "Just as long as she doesn't let this slip"/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""Nah… Your secret's safe" Robyn told them, before she decided to ask him out of curiosity "So are you one of his admirers? You know…" she stretched her mouth with her fingers to make a larger a smile, slowly stopping this, removing her fingers from her face as she noticed the anger building in his eyes "…So I'm guessing that's a no?"/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""That green haired bastard will pay for what he has done to this city" the man in black said to her "Good to see not everybody agrees with him" Robyn admitted to him, before askingspan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""So uh… Where the hell is the exit?" to which Alfred directed her. Before she left, Robyn asked the man in black as he was getting patched upspan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""So d'you have a name? Like an actual one?" to which, after a long moment of silence, and as she was half way out the door he answered "…Bruce. For now you can just call me Bruce". Once she had hastily made her way back to her shop, she saw the police, who asked her what had happened. She told it like it was "A man in black came in and kicked their asses" and to her surprise, they accepted this, as did eye witnesses and the would be robbers./span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1"The next morning, it was business as usual, though Robyn did have a fun story to tell Detective Jim Gordon "It happened right here" Robyn told him, adding thatspan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""He was standing right there too" to which Jim said "Well its good to see you're safe"/span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""Yeah, well honestly I'm just glad nobody had to pull a trigger that night" Robyn admitted "I'd have hated to've spent the night mopping up blood" the two friends would laugh at this before Gordon left for duty, just as the before a tall young man with dark hair entered, around the same time she read a newspaper out loud to herself "'Masked Bat-Wielding Maniac on the Loose'… 'Attacked three would be robbers'" Robyn read as she showed him the newspaper adding "Their words… Sure as hell aren't mine" to which the man said as he bought the paper from her with a knowing smirk "I'm guessing your words would be… 'Crazy man in black who should know that there has to be easier ways to die'?" Robyn paused before saying to the man in black, who right now was just some rich guy named Bruce /span/p  
p class="p3"span class="s1""…Something like that" before she formally introduced herself "The name's Robyn"./span/p 


End file.
